Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Letter XV
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measure gloomy, inspiring emotions that sterility had
never produced. Fires of this kind are occasioned by
the wind suddenly rising when the farmers are burning
roots of trees, stalks of beans, &c., with which they
manure the ground. The devastation must, indeed, be
terrible, when this, literally speaking, wildfire, runs
along the forest, flying from top to top, and crackling
amongst the branches. The soil, as well as the trees,
is swept away by the destructive torrent; and the
country, despoiled of beauty and riches, is left to
mourn for ages.
Admiring, as I do, these noble forests, which seem to
bid defiance to time, I looked with pain on the ridge
of rocks that stretched far beyond my eye, formerly
crowned with the most beautiful verdure.
I have often mentioned the grandeur, but I feel
myself unequal to the task of conveying an idea of the
beauty and elegance of the scene when the spiry tops of
the pines are loaded with ripening seed, and the sun
gives a glow to their light-green tinge, which is
changing into purple, one tree more or less advanced
contrasted with another. The profusion with which
Nature has decked them with pendant honours,
prevents all surprise at seeing in every crevice some
sapling struggling for existence. Vast masses of stone
are thus encircled, and roots torn up by the storms
become a shelter for a young generation. The pine
and fir woods, left entirely to Nature, display an endless
variety; and the paths in the woods are not entangled
with fallen leaves, which are only interesting whilst
they are fluttering between life and death. The grey
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